Andrew's View of the Week

Wednesday Woodworking – Finished Cross, TaDa!

Posted on 04/15/2015 by Andrew Reynolds

Here it is, the finished cross:

Front of the finished cross with base.

Back of the cross with the base.

Some asked for an extreme closeup of the pattern. I won’t disappoint:

Extreme closeup of the fretwork. The scale is in inches. Yes most of the holes are smaller than your finger nail.

Another close up.

This is really the fourth cross I’ve done. The first of these I did three years ago while recovering from my radiation treatments. Here’s a post on that, https://andrewsviewoftheweek.com/2012/05/16/mostly-finished-the-cross/

I found the pattern in the Holiday 2011 (issue 45) of ScrollSaw Woodworking and Crafts magazine. The pattern designer is Sue Mey ( she sells patterns including this one ). When I first saw it, it just called to me so I grabbed some plywood, tape and the pattern and went at it. Then I did what is known as a stack cut and made three at once. One was given to my grandson, one sold at a church auction and the third I kept.

This current cross started out in the summer of 2013 when my church had to cut down a 40 year-old silver maple tree. There are a few woodworkers in the congregation and we each took some of the wood for projects. I just knew I had to make another cross with the wood. The boards are 1/2 inch thick so I could only one.

Some small facts about the project:

Size: 17.8″ tall, 11.3″ across, width of boards, 3.2″
Time: I estimate I took about 50 hours to cut this. The wood is thick and hard.
Blades: I buy scroll saw blades by the gross and I just about 90 to cut this.

The cross just needs a coat of finish and I’ll give it to the church. Don’t know what they’ll do with it, but I’m hoping it could be used in the chapel.

I’ve enjoyed this project and may cut another cross or two before I check out of this planet. It’s a great winter project so I might start another set of crosses this fall (yes, I am going to use thinner wood and stack cut three or four next time). No idea what I’ll do with them, likely just offer them for sale or give them as gifts.

Hope you enjoyed following my progress – even if it was a bit like watching paint dry.

If you need me – I’ll be in the shop,
Andrew

Posted in woodworking | Tagged cross, filligree cross, scrol saw, woodworking | 42 Comments

It Finally Happened

Posted on 04/11/2015 by Andrew Reynolds

It was going to happen sooner or later. Today was the day.

Yes, I ordered breakfast from the senior menu.

Three important things I am pondering about this experience:

1. I barely looked at the main menu and quickly got excited about the senior menu.
2. The waiter didn’t question my age.
3. It was almost too much food.

Still worse things have happened to a man. No, I am not going to list them.

This is just a week where I am feeling a bit old. Yesterday I went to the drug store and actually bought medications and associated health products. Then when I got home I found the pharmacy had mailed my prescription refills which forced me to reorganize my medication shelf in the bathroom.

Before breakfast this morning Heather and I made an early morning outing to the blood lab so I could get my six month blood tests. Yes, we decided to make a special occasion out of it by eating breakfast out. Then we had real excitement by going to the pet store to buy cat food and a new litter box. We also stopped by Home Depot to buy things – if I could find the receipt, I’d be able tell you what we bought…

I know, I know – it’s a wild life we’re living, but I am not going to slow down just because I now order from the senior menu.

Well, this afternoon I am amusing myself by checking my email to see if the lab results are ready yet. Almost as much fun as watching baseball – “Well, this is exciting, Andrew’s blood count is rock solid normal again.”

Tomorrow is likely to be a bit more adventurous for me. I’ll be spending all day at the San Jose Poetry Festival. Don’t know what that will be like as this is the first time I’ve attended anything like this. I am not really sure what to expect, but I figured that if I am going to be writing poetry books, I should get connected to the local poetry scene.

I am just hoping that the chairs are comfortable and the restrooms are near by.

I’ll tell you all about the festival next week and on Wednesday look forward to seeing pictures of my finished cross.

Till next week,
Andrew

Posted in General, Health | Tagged breakfast, health | 32 Comments

Wednesday Woodworking – 10 left

Posted on 04/08/2015 by Andrew Reynolds

It’s getting very close. There are 10 holes left to cut. I figure I can do that in an hour so next week you might see a finished cross. Here’s the pictures for the week:

Almost there. Just another hour.

A little sanding and finish and this part is done.

I likely won’t be writing much this weekend as I am attending an event this Sunday. More about that later.

If you need me – I’ll be in the shop

Andrew

Posted in woodworking | Tagged fililgree cross, fretwork cross, scroll saw, woodworking | 22 Comments

Glad that’s Behind Me

Posted on 04/05/2015 by Andrew Reynolds

It’s been a weird week for me. Not sure I want to explain it all. Right now I am just glad it’s over and I get to move on. I didn’t write a poem this week and likely won’t for a little while as I am now in full editing mode on my poetry book.

My poem last week hinted at some medical issues. Actually it’s been slowly getting worse since I had my radiation treatment three years ago. The radiation has done its job to kill the prostate cancer, but there are side effects. Most are minor, just annoyances that you learn to live with, but this one got to the point where I needed some treatment. What I ended up with is a case of radiation proctitis that required a little laser treatment. I had the procedure on Thursday and all I can say is WOW! That fixed it up.

Today I am feeling much better than I have in months, so now it is on to other work.

I’ve started working through editing my cancer poetry book. Two of the people who’ve read the draft have provided detailed edits and comments, so am taking that all in and am polishing my manuscript. It can be difficult to go back and rework your words, but it’s part of being a writer. All writing can be improved and I am diving into the process.

You’ve seen my progress on the cross. It’s getting close to done. Maybe another couple of weeks.

I’ve started planning my next woodworking project after the cross. This will be a cabinet for the pantry. While we had all new kitchen cabinets made last year – and they’re great – we still find we could use more storage. The plan right now is that I’ll make a copy of the pantry cupboard the cabinet-maker built for us. More on that as the cross project winds down.

Haven’t written much about sea shanties lately, but I still listen to them every day. It’s my shop music and what I’ve been listening to while I am cutting on the cross. My collection has a number of CDs and I’ve been finding shanties on YouTube as well. One of my favorite groups on YouTube is Kimber’s Men. Their channel is at: https://www.youtube.com/user/banjostead

This week I’ve been listening to, Heave away my Johnny’s :